


long live the pioneers

by ackermanx



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: LotR AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 05:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10633092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ackermanx/pseuds/ackermanx
Summary: "Tell you what, Mr. Hanamaki," Mattsun offers his arm in mock formality. "I'll accompany you to the nearest town, and you tell me where you're going over a nice hot meal. Deal?"Makki squints at Mattsun, half smiling. "Why do I feel like you're just trying to get a free meal out of me?""That's because I am, my good sir."Now openly smiling, Makki scrambles to his feet. "I like you already. Deal."





	

**Author's Note:**

> this was my fic for the matsuhana zine!!!! (BIG THANK YOU TO SAN FOR ORGANIZING IT, SAN IF U EVER SEE THIS THANK U AGAIN)
> 
> oh. oh man literally the first thing that popped into my head when I saw that the theme was "adventure" was "LOTR AU LOTR AU LOTR AU" so. gestures vaguely at fic. I'm weak

Traveler's Rule #1: If you must enter a forest, do so before sunset, and make sure you'll make it out before nightfall.

When Makki got out of the forest, he would pass these rules on to someone. He would make a list of things never to do while traveling, and he would pass them on to a fellow weary traveler and hopefully no one would make the same mistakes that he was currently making.  
If he got out, Makki reminds himself, glancing at the rapidly darkening skyline. If he had to guess, there was...an hour left until sunset, and miles to go before he could reach the end of the trees.

"Hey, trees?" he sighs. "This is just between you and me, but I think Oikawa was right. I probably shouldn't have come in here knowing that I might not make it out in time."

The trees loom silently.

Makki grimaces. "Right. Well, try not to kill me while I'm here, alright?"

More silence.

Then, a twig snaps.

Immediately defensive, Makki lifts his walking stick and points it at the nearest bush. "Who's there?"

A rustle.

Somewhere deep in the bush, something cheeps.  
Makki lets out a breath of relief and sets his stick down, kneeling in front of the bush. It was just a baby creature. 

"Hey there. You lost?"

Another cheep.

"Do you want to come with me? I don't think I'll be able to help you find your mom, but you can travel with me for now and maybe we'll meet her along the way…?"

Makki watches in anticipation as the rustling grows louder - in fact, he's watching so intently that he doesn't notice the goblin standing behind him until it lets out a grunt.

Suddenly, two more goblins jump out from the bush, tackling Makki to the ground. The one from before waddles forward and picks Makki's stick off of the ground, inspecting it closely before breaking it cleanly in half.

"Hey - !" Makki yells, trying in vain to roll out from underneath the two rather heavy goblins sitting on top of him. "That's mine!"

The goblins exchange a look, then the two sitting on Makki's chest hop off and grab his arms, and the one holding the (now broken) stick tosses it to the ground and hoists Makki's legs onto its shoulders.

"Wait! Where are you taking me? Unhand me - "

"UNHAND HIM, YOU FOOLS!"

A blinding white light fills the forest, overwhelming all of Makki's senses and leaving him feeling as if a blanket had been thrown over him, muting everything around him.

Unfortunately, it ends just as suddenly as it began, and as Makki's senses return to him and the cold seeps back into his skin, he mumbles "am I dead?"

"You're very much alive, thankfully. Unless you were trying to die, to which I honestly wouldn't be surprised, because what in the name of all that is holy are you doing here alone at night?"

Makki sits up as fast as he can, then nearly falls back down when he finds the source of the voice.

A tall and rather lanky male stands barely a foot from where Makki had fallen, dusting off his long black cloak with one hand and holding a faintly glowing staff in the other. He glances over at Makki, and upon seeing him sitting up, raises a single eyebrow. 

"Well?"

Makki opens and closes his mouth, still dumbstruck. "Wait. Night? I swear it was still light just a few minutes ago."

"Night falls fast, o weary traveler." The man inclines his head, the barest smile on his face. "The name's Matsukawa, by the way. But you can just call me Makki if my full name's too clunky for you."

"I - my name's Hanamaki, but you can call me Makki. Almost everyone does, anyway." Makki grins ruefully, fully aware that he was breaking Traveler's Rule #2: Don't trust random strangers, even if said stranger had just saved your life.

"Tell you what, Mr. Hanamaki," Mattsun offers his arm in mock formality. "I'll accompany you to the nearest town, and you tell me where you're going over a nice hot meal. Deal?"

Makki squints at Mattsun, half smiling. "Why do I feel like you're just trying to get a free meal out of me?"

"That's because I am, my good sir."

Now openly smiling, Makki scrambles to his feet. "I like you already. Deal."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So you're a traveling wizard, huh?"

Mattsun takes a break from wolfing down pancakes to nod. "Born too late to be one of the greats, born too early to cool time travel stuff, born just in time for...this, whatever this is."

He spreads out his arms to indicate everything around them.

"So I thought, hey, might as well make the most of this and see all there is to see. Is that why you travel, too?"

"Er...no, not exactly." Makki ducks his head, awkwardly scratching his neck. "It's a bit dumber than that."

Mattsun leans across the table, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. "Dumb idea? Do tell; that's my favorite kind of idea."

"Well…" Makki hesitates, then points at some mountains barely visible in the distance. "See those?"

"The scraggly things in the distance? Yeah, why?"

"My grandma told me a legend about those mountains once. She said that once you pass through the forest of many dangers (her words, not mine) and cross the waters of Brynhilder, all you have to do is just head straight for the mountain range; after all that, they'll always be within sight. Once you cross them, there's a whole other country hidden there where creatures of different species live together in peace."

Mattsun had been listening intently the whole time, fork paused in the air midway to his mouth; now, as if remembering himself, he blinks and takes another bite of pancake. "And you want to go there?"

"Well...yeah. Doesn't it sound nice, though? A place where elves and dwarves can live together without all the antagonism, where wizards - er, no offense intended - protect the peace instead of going rogue whenever they want."

"Mmm, no offense taken."

Mattsun hides a yawn behind his hand, then gets up and claps Makki on the back. "I'm gonna turn in for the night. You good down here?"

"Yeah, I'll be up in a bit," Makki murmurs, eyes never leaving the faint outline of the peaks in the distance.

Mattsun turns to leave, hesitates, then looks back over his shoulder.

"By the way, that's not a stupid idea at all, in my opinion."

By the time Makki wheels around in surprise, Mattsun was already gone.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey. Hey, wake up. Wake up."

Makki groans, flinging an arm over his eyes as a sudden burst of sunlight hits his face. "It's too early for this, let me sleep."

A breath of hot air tickles Makki's ear. "Too early for adventure, did you say?"

Makki sits up, startled, and cracks his head against someone else's.

"Oww, okay, good morning to you too." A familiar-looking head of black hair moves into the ray of sunlight, and Makki blinks a few times before the face fully registers.

"...Mattsun? Is that you?"

"'Course it is. Now hurry up and get dressed, because there is no way that we are crossing that river in the afternoon, when all the fishermen come out and clog the water with their equipment - "

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. We? You're coming too?"  
Mattsun waves his hands in front of Makki's face. 

"Hello? Traveling wizard? I'd be an idiot to pass up any sort of adventure. Now, come on. I've been awake for hours and I'm not above leaving without you."

"Rude," Makki shoots back; nevertheless, he swings out of bed and starts gathering clothes and other scattered provisions into his bag.

As he descends the steps of the inn, he waves goodbye to the bartender and nods at anyone who meets his eyes. Calls of "fair weather today!" and "safe travels!" follow Makki across the room as he weaves his way through the crowd.

"Took you long enough," Mattsun smirks when Makki finally exits the building, wheezing and flushed from the heat indoors. He casually leans against the wall in the shade, watching on in interest as Makki attempts to get his backpack on in a more comfortable position.  
"Well? How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a bit...adventurous today." Makki grins up at Mattsun's face, not missing the exhausted look on Mattsun's face. "Pun very much intended."

"Oh, alright, I'll give you credit for that." Mattsun rolls his eyes, extending an arm to Makki once again. "You ready?"

Makki grins, giving his backpack one last heft.

"Ready as I'll ever be."


End file.
